Captured in Cloth
Serenity
John
Watching U
Regrets
Still I Rise
Ophelia - Woman coming into her Confidence
Elements
By Tom Wachunas
…Just like moons and like suns, With
the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I'll rise… from “Still I rise” by Maya Angelou
“Art is a form of experience of the person,
the place, the history of the people, and as black people, we are different. We
hail from Africa to America, so the culture is mixed, from the African to the
American. We can't drop that. It's reflected in the music, the dance, the
poetry, and the art.” - Faith Ringgold
EXHIBIT: Eyes
To The Soul: The Fiber Art of Margene May / at Canton Museum of Art, through
October 27, 2024 / 1001 Market Avenue N., Canton, Ohio / 330.453.7666 /
The Canton
Museum of Art is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 10 a.m. – 8
p.m., Fridays and Saturdays 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., and Sundays 1-5 p.m. Admission is
free on Thursdays and the first Friday of every month.
Background
info: https://www.cantonart.org/exhibits/eyes-soul-fiber-art-margene-may-august-27-2024-october-27-2024
This captivating retrospective tribute to
the work of Canton artist Margene May, who passed away unexpectedly in 2022,
was curated by Lynda Tuttle Swintosky. Her downtown gallery, Lynda Tuttle’s Art
Center, significantly contributed to the vital diversity of Canton’s burgeoning
art scene with a large solo exhibit (31 pieces!) of May’s exquisite fiber portraits
back in August of 2010.
Margene May elevated the craft of fabric
cut-and-paste to a riveting level of jewel-like intricacy. She composed
portraits with pieces of cloth that often echoed traditional African-styled
abstract designs, symbols and patterns. Moods, attitudes, postures. Her
portraits exude a wondrous presence of palpable emotional expressivity and
qualities of human character. They speak stories of vulnerability, strength,
desire, anxiety, hope, doubt, confidence.
Yes, stories. And also questions. As we watch,
as we lock eyes and look at them, one of the pieces here
called “Watching U” reminds me that they look at us too, perhaps
asking what we feel, assume, or truly know about African Americans alive
together with us in modern society.
Margene May’s portraits are dynamic
immersions, compelling contemplations and celebrations that still evoke
beautiful connections to the ethos of African art and culture. One of the most
powerful and poignant examples of that connectivity is especially present in
her marvelous work called “Serenity.” A mother, her face aglow with intense,
warm color, looks peacefully past our gaze, seemingly through us, into a time
or place where her sleeping baby has yet to arrive. Mother’s hair seems windblown,
electrified, alert. Her hand, resting on baby’s torso, is a cradling comfort.
And a strong, ready shield.
